Thursday, April 8, 2010

By Subhash K. JhaMumbai, April 8 (IANS) Action star Akshay Kumar is taking his role asa cricketer in "Patiala House" so seriously that he has been trainingrigorously under former Test bowler Paras Mhambrey even beforeshooting has started.

Paras, currently working with the Indian Premier League's MumbaiIndians team, has been taking time off to coach Akshay wheneverpossible.

Akshay has just returned from his back therapy in Germany and wants tocontinue training steadily and regularly so that his bowling skillsare sharpened by the time he starts shooting for "Patiala House".

"Akshay has been training diligently and religiously. His coach ParasMhambrey even joined him at Malshej Ghat for Farah's film ('Tees MaarKhan'). Because right after that our cricket sequences start inLondon," Nikhil Advani, who is directing "Patiala House", told IANS.

Advani's British sports coordinator Robert Miller, who handled thehockey and cricket scenes in "Chak De! India" and "Dil Bole Hadippa"respectively, is here right now finalising the list of internationalcricketers who will play with Akshay in "Patiala House".

"We're looking at international cricketers from all over the world -England, South Africa, Australia, Bangladesh. The fact that the IPLmatches are on makes our job easier because Robert can meet andnegotiate with a lot of international cricketers while they are here,"said Advani.

The film also requires county-level and regional players who will befinalised after Miller fixes on the big-name cricketers.

"I basically need the cricketers from May 25 to June 5 for the variousgames that we'll be shooting in England. So we can work our schedulesaccording to the cricketers' date diaries," said Advani.

This, admits Advani, is easier said than done. "I've a real uphilltask ahead. And I've stopped sleeping with anxiety. But I've oneexpert cricketer on my team already. My leading man Akshay. You've tosee how well he bowls now."

Akshay is apparently so bowled over by his coach Paras that he nowintends to request the former test cricketer to train his son Aarav aswell.